ALLAHABAD: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday stoked the fire a bit more by saying that the protests taking place on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus had the backing of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed.
“I want to make it clear that the JNU incident has the support of Lashkar chief Hafiz Saeed. We should understand this reality that Hafiz Saeed supports this incident. It is extremely unfortunate,” he told the media in Allahabad.
Singh further said that his government would not pardon those who have raised slogans against the nation’s integrity.
“I have given all the necessary directions to officials to punish the offenders but not to harass the innocents,” he added.
When asked to comment on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s visit to varsity, Singh said that nobody should try and take political mileage out of the protests.
“Whatever happened in JNU is extremely unfortunate. I appeal to every organisation in the country to speak in one voice if they find any anti-national activity taking place in their surroundings,” he added.
The home minister told CPI(M), CPI and JD (U) members who met him yesterday seeking the release of JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar that the court would decide whether further action should be taken against the arrested students.
Kanhaiya was arrested on Friday and charged with sedition after a protest organized on the JNU campus on February 9 against the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.